Edmond's Dark Day: The Tragic Legacy of the Post Office Shooting
The day began like any other. Postal workers were beginning their morning routines—sorting mail, making plans for their deliveries. But the usual hustle and bustle of an average workday was soon to be shattered. Patrick Sherrill, a part-time mail carrier known to his fellow mail carriers as “Crazy Pat,” was about change the lives of the local community forever.
Sherrill entered the post office at around 7 a.m., armed with three semi-automatic pistols. He immediately went on a murderous rampage, shooting anyone within his sight. Within a matter of minutes, the scene had transformed from a bustling workplace to a chilling crime scene. Sherrill’s coworkers became victims, their lives cut short in an instant.
Location: 200 N. Broadway, Edmond, OK.
Edmond Post Office
The victims of THE "going postal" incident
Jerry Ralph Pyle
BIRTH 14 Jul 1935
DEATH 20 Aug 1986 (aged 51)
BURIAL Gracelawn Cemetery
Edmond, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, USA
Leroy Orrin Phillips
BIRTH 28 Jan 1944
DEATH 20 Aug 1986 (aged 42)
BURIAL Fairview Park Cemetery
St. John, Stafford County, Kansas, USA
William Frederick “Billy” Miller
BIRTH 29 Jan 1956
DEATH 20 Aug 1986 (aged 30)
BURIAL Mathewson Cemetery
Piedmont, Canadian County, Oklahoma, USA
Richard Charles “Rick” Esser Jr.
BIRTH 16 Nov 1947
DEATH 20 Aug 1986 (aged 38)
BURIAL Memorial Park Cemetery
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, USA
Betty Ann Rader Jarred
BIRTH 8 Feb 1952
DEATH 20 Aug 1986 (aged 34)
BURIAL Summit View Cemetery
Guthrie, Logan County, Oklahoma, USA
Patty Jean Husband
BIRTH 10 Nov 1938
DEATH 20 Aug 1986 (aged 47)
BURIAL Rose Hill Burial Park
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, USA
The Shooter
Patrick Henry Sherrill perpetrated the tragic mass shooting known as the Edmond post office shooting, killing 14 coworkers and injuring several others before turning the gun on himself and committing suicide.
Sherrill's motives for the shooting remain unclear, although there were reports of conflicts with his coworkers and supervisors prior to the attack. Sherrill's attack inspired the American phrase "going postal".
Patrick Henry Sherrill VETERAN
BIRTH 13 Nov 1941
DEATH 20 Aug 1986 (aged 44)
BURIAL Watonga IOOF Cemetery
Watonga, Blaine County, Oklahoma, USA